Words of Wisdom?

[wiccabrat]

So I have plans to add a few more lizards into my family in the future and was wondering if anyone owns any of them or has and can give me some personal insight. I've read tons of care sheets and such already and I'll read more before each comes home. I already have beardies, a crested gecko, snakes, and various turtles so I'm not afraid of the work or the money. What I'm really looking for are the things care sheets don't tell you, such as personalities, oddities, friendliness, handling, and such. Just some of your personal insights.
Brown Basilisks
Green Basilisks
Water Dragons
Frilled Dragon
Thanks a bunch, Cathy

 

[Spooki]

i haven't owned them myself, but water dragons are really awesome. they're like a friendly alternative to green iguanas. if you get them used to being handled they seem to enjoy it. the last time i held one he fell asleep in my hand. they all seem to really enjoy having the area behind their eyes rubbed, it relaxes them almost instantly.

they don't seem to difficult to care for either. i have been wanting to get one myself but i can't afford a tank big enough yet.

plus, the babies are freaking adorable with their huge heads.

 

[Kitsune]

I absolutely love water dragons. I agree with everything Spooki said.
They're absolutely gorgeous as they get bigger too~

 

[Lena]

I've never had any, but I understand they're all very difficult animals to care for!

I'm sure you'll do your research. Best of luck!

 

[wiccabrat]

Thanks guys, from everything I've read none of them are difficult just expensive to get set up. I have it good though, my hubby builds all our enclosures so I get them alot cheaper and whatever size & shape I want. we're remodeling our whole house and all the rooms are getting done around what size cages/tanks go in it. So I can pretty much do whatever I want. I know some people say the beardies are alot of work but I don't think so, I guess it's just how you look at it. I mean my kids were/are alot of work but I kept them. lol

 

[Gecko]

The Basilisks are not bad if you treat them right. That means a massive enclosure, water ,etc. Avioding transparencies. This basically makes them hard for the average person though. Need to stop the flight response from allowing them to stress and injure themselves. I personally wouldn't keep them myself at this moment unless I could keep them in a suitable outdoor pen in the right climate.

The Frilled Dragon's only drawback is the masive amount of bugs you'd be feeding to an adult. That and size of an enclosure.

 

[wiccabrat]

Gecko, what size enclosures are we talking? You make it sound like they need their own rooms. I've looked and can't really find much on "ideal" enclosures just min sizes and such. I try hard to make everyone as comfortable as possible and tend to always overdue.
The FD diet, how bad is it? I have a list of what they eat but haven't found anything that tells you how much. We're in the process of raising our own crickets so we can keep up with the baby beardies (talk about pigs). I already buy more fruit & vegis for the animals than I do for us so that won't be a big deal.

 

[Gecko]

um for the Frillies in order to feed them well I would personally also try to breed larger roaches. The main reason I may be down on the Frillie food amount is that I already run well over $100 a month in animal food. As you probably know the Frillies need a vertical component to the cage as well. In the wild you see them on and on top of things. They have a nice little two "fangs" in front too so make sure you handle them when young.

Honestly, I feel to house the basilisks you should have a enclosure large enough that if they "get going" they don't ram into a glass panel or a wall. I understand my ideal is a lot large then a lot of other peoples. In a lot of ways they are bad about that like butterfly agamids. You should ideally also have them in an area you arn't always walking by.

If your looking at big lizards I personally think Hydrosaurus are cool . . .

 

[wiccabrat]

Well I know the feeling, we spend around $200.00 a month on the animal food now. It's better in the summer because I grow most of my own vegis & fruits but winter sucks. I should have my green house going within the next few years so that will help, and once we get the feeders going that'll definitely help. I'll check into the roaches, I know I'll have to order the starter batch (no one sells them here) so I'll start them before I get the FD.
My plans so far for the FD cage are 2.5' wide, 8' long, 4' tall. I can go taller if need be and maybe a lil wider. What are your thoughts?
So how big would you make a basilisks cage? What's enough running room?
I've never seen a Hydrosaurus before so I looked, he looks like Godzila! lol

 

[Gecko]

Hydrosaurus is kind of the agamid take on an Iguana just a lot less social and with a sail.

Sounds good as long as your willing to adjust the cages if the animal needs it you'll be fine. With the basilisk I'd be more concerned about size and cover. You don't want it nose diveing into something everytime you walk by.

All this large lizard talk is bad for me . . . makes me think of things I want.